Johann Michler is head of the Laboratory of Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures at Empa. He received his diploma in Materials Science at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany in 1995 and a PhD degree in Materials Science at EPFL in 2000. He is lecturer at EPFL since 2005. His current research interest focuses on thin film deposition technologies and scale dependent mechanical properties of materials. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 publications, organized several international conferences, and is founder of three start-ups.